christinahartelhttps://christinahartel.wordpress.com
Getting better one blog at a timeSat, 17 Feb 2018 20:02:40 +0000enhourly1http://wordpress.com/https://s2.wp.com/i/buttonw-com.pngchristinahartelhttps://christinahartel.wordpress.com
What’s really in your cereal?https://christinahartel.wordpress.com/2011/10/06/whats-really-in-your-cereal/
https://christinahartel.wordpress.com/2011/10/06/whats-really-in-your-cereal/#respondThu, 06 Oct 2011 04:51:23 +0000http://christinahartel.wordpress.com/?p=132Continue reading →]]>Think you know what you’re eating? According to the USDA, in 2009, 93% of soy, 93% of cotton, and 86% of corn grown in the U.S. were GMO. GMOs or “genetically modified organisms” are organisms that have been created through techniques of biotechnology (also called genetic engineering, or GE). This relatively new science allows DNA from one species to be injected into another species in a laboratory, creating combinations of plant, animal, bacteria, and viral genes that do not occur in nature or through traditional crossbreeding methods. Surprised? Incredible isn’t it?

American consumers deserve to choose whether they want to eat GMOs. In 30 other countries around the world, including Australia, Japan, and the countries in the European Union, there are significant restrictions or outright bans on the production of GMOs, because they are not considered proven safe. In the U.S. on the other hand, the FDA approved commercial production of GMOs based on studies conducted by the companies who created them and profit from their sale. Many health-conscious shoppers find the lack of rigorous, independent, scientific examination on the impact of consuming GM foods to be cause for concern, according to the Non-GMO project.

Robert Brackett, Director, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition at the Food and Drug Administration testified before the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry that the FDA is confident that the bioengineered foods on the United States market today are as safe as their conventional counterparts. He said the FDA has found no evidence to indicate that bioengineering presents food safety problems. The FDA does not require labeling to indicate whether a food ingredient is a bioengineered product, just as it does not require labeling to indicate which conventional breeding technique was used in developing a food plant. According to an ABC News Poll, 93 percent of Americans say the federal government should require labels on food saying whether it’s been genetically modified, or “bio-engineered.” Such near-unanimity in public opinion is rare.

Surely the use of GMOs will continue, but we have a right to know what’s in our food. At least if it has a label we can choose to buy it or not. Currently we’re in the dark. October is Non-GMO month. Awareness might make a difference next time you find yourself in a grocery store. Look for non-GMO labeled foods and buy organic products when you can. Visit http://justlabelit.org/takeaction if you want to sign the petition to tell the FDA to label our food.

]]>https://christinahartel.wordpress.com/2011/10/06/whats-really-in-your-cereal/feed/0Spoonful_of_cerealchristinahartelSpoonful_of_cerealFoodhttps://christinahartel.wordpress.com/2011/09/11/food/
https://christinahartel.wordpress.com/2011/09/11/food/#respondMon, 12 Sep 2011 02:46:31 +0000http://christinahartel.wordpress.com/?p=126Continue reading →]]>Food. Food is supposed to be nutritious and help us maintain life and growth. But is the way we’re eating helping us or hurting us? This is a question I asked myself a few years ago. Living in the United States, we have access to such an abundant variety of food, yet everyone seems to choose quick, easy and over-processed products to satisfy their cravings. I see tons of people walking around with “diet” soda or some sort of energy drink on a daily basis. Have they never read an article about the effects of aspartame? Or do they just ignore those facts?

Growing up in the restaurant industry, I’ve always been around food, but more importantly I’ve been around employees in the service industry, who, living the busy, high-paced lifestyles they do are often not the healthiest individuals. A lot of “us” are stressed, overworked and don’t sleep enough. That means a diet that consists of too much caffeine, fat, and sugar and certainly not enough water.

One day, I decided to read more about health and what I can do to improve mine. Countless books and a few cleanses later, I found Veganism. Although I’m a cheating vegan who eats meat, seafood and even cheese on occasion, for the most part I stay away from animal products. Something else that affected me profoundly is that my father, who always struggled with cholesterol, decided to try a plant-based diet to improve his own health. Three weeks into his diet, his results were staggering. To the doctor’s surprise, his cholesterol went down significantly, over 100 points, without any drugs. Having someone as close to me as my father, living proof that this lifestyle can really potentially save a life; I was convinced it was the way for me.

It is truly amazing what food can do. It can cause adverse health effects, but it can also heal. The choice is the individual’s. I guess that’s the beauty of it. That each of us makes a choice, everyday and several times, what we are going to give our body. Will we nourish it with food that will assist our cells or will we dump unnecessary calories into our system?

The bottom line here is that consciousness is everything. There is such a great lack of awareness when it comes to food. Many reach for over the counter drugs to help with a headache, or perhaps their heartburn, not even thinking twice about what may be causing it. If each of us simply stopped and dealt with the issues we were facing and tried to ask why, I think the world would be a better place.

Of course what worked for me might not work for someone else, but at least I try to make myself and therefore my life better. I learned a long time ago that we can only change ourselves and hope to inspire others along the way, thru leading by example. There’s no changing other people before you do not change yourself.

Hopefully more people will realize that there is a direct correlation between what we eat and how we feel. Food should be making us happy and energized, not sad and sluggish. Of course there are also other factors that affect our general well-being, but in my opinion, the biggest one and the easiest to change is what we consume. A simple decision, yet so difficult, what to eat?

Of course there are many other factors to a balanced diet, like diversity, the question of genetically modified foods, organic or not, farm-raised, and the list goes on, but the most important and valuable thing to remember is to at least be conscious of what we are eating and where it came from. Awareness is always the first step.

]]>https://christinahartel.wordpress.com/2011/09/11/food/feed/0Veggie SandwichchristinahartelVeggie SandwichMiracle Whip?https://christinahartel.wordpress.com/2011/04/19/miracle-whip/
https://christinahartel.wordpress.com/2011/04/19/miracle-whip/#respondTue, 19 Apr 2011 19:23:57 +0000http://christinahartel.wordpress.com/?p=94Continue reading →]]>Do you love it or hate it? Miracle Whip is just one of those products that people either love or hate. There is no middle ground. Kraft Foods, which manufactures both Miracle Whip and mayonnaise is cleverly capitalizing on this. The commercials are appealing. Pauly D from Jersey Shore hates it. He even says that if a girl he dates likes it, it’s a “deal breaker.” Amy Sedaris says, “it’s always great in the bedroom,” and many others give their own opinion on why they love, or hate it. This ad campaign is a really clever move. The YouTube channel has over 1.6 million views and people are definitely chiming in and expressing their “love” or “hate” for it. For those who do like it, it makes them part of a group of “cool” people that love something that is just not for everyone. This ad campaign is clever because Kraft is gaining brand awareness not only for Miracle Whip, but also mayonnaise. For them it’s a win, win situation. Commercials involving the audience are gaining popularity and rightfully so. It’s a great tactic to engage the public. Frito Lay has been doing this for years, of course in a different way, with the Doritos Superbowl commercials. Testimonials are also a great way of showing transparency and gaining trust, which is ever so important when it comes to Public Relations. At the end of the day, more than anything, the commercials are entertaining. They get the ones who love it to be excited and the ones who feel like they’re one the fence, or maybe have never tried it a reason to see what side they’re on. You can check out their Facebook page and cast your vote. Using traditional and social media, Kraft is inviting you to be brutally honest about the taste.
]]>https://christinahartel.wordpress.com/2011/04/19/miracle-whip/feed/0Miracle whipchristinahartelWho should you be following?https://christinahartel.wordpress.com/2011/04/13/who-should-you-be-following/
https://christinahartel.wordpress.com/2011/04/13/who-should-you-be-following/#respondWed, 13 Apr 2011 19:41:21 +0000http://christinahartel.wordpress.com/?p=111Three companies that use Twitter with “great strategy”
]]>https://christinahartel.wordpress.com/2011/04/13/who-should-you-be-following/feed/0christinahartelSocial Media is dead?https://christinahartel.wordpress.com/2011/04/05/social-media-is-dead/
https://christinahartel.wordpress.com/2011/04/05/social-media-is-dead/#respondWed, 06 Apr 2011 02:41:39 +0000http://christinahartel.wordpress.com/?p=88Continue reading →]]>

Last night I saw an article on Popeater stating that James Franco declared “Social Media is dead.” What??? According to the article he tried out Twitter, thinking he could say whatever was on his mind. The turning point came when companies he works with contacted him about the content of his tweets. Newsflash! When you’re a celebrity, you automatically gain a multitude of followers on sites like Twitter, of course you need to be mindful of the things you put out there! He is quoted saying, “This is my Twitter. I can do whatever I want.” He began using Twitter before the Oscars, which he co-hosted. Whether his decision to make his account private was the right one, I cannot say, but what I do feel like saying is that celebrities sometimes underestimate the effect they have on their fans. It is important that they use platforms like Twitter for example not only for promotion, but also causes. There is no reason why a celeb should feel overexposed when they have a Twitter, because ultimately the content of it is up to them. Of course there are always many people to please, but I doubt that this is the reason why James Franco quit Twitter. Being a writer, maybe he just feels like 140 characters aren’t enough to express himself? Social media is definitely not dead. Social media has changed so many things and is a game-changer when it comes to marketing, public relations and many other fields now. Anything can be good, bad or ugly, it all has to do with how much or little one puts into it. Personally, social media has connected me to many people I would otherwise have never heard of. Twitter users accounts increased 250% between 2010 and 2011, so don’t believe what you hear boys and girls!

Klout is really cool! It is a measuring tool of your overall influence online. Right now I believe they are only measuring Twitter, but watched a YouTube video where the CEO said they will also be incorporating Facebook interests as well to basically let you know according to interests who to follow on Twitter. Sort of like a search engine. This is a really great tool for people who are influencers and great news because if you are one of them, you might be able to get freebies for it soon. The CEO Joe Fernandez mentioned that if someone is a great influencer, companies might seek them out to give them products, in order to “influence” their followers. Hey, over here! I like coffee! Starbucks? Should I start tweeting about coffee a lot? All kidding aside, this is a great tool for many of us, especially those involved in niche markets. There are endless possibilities with this and Klout seems to be in gaining momentum pretty quickly. By simply entering your Twitter username you get a score of your overall online influence. The true reach, according to Klout.com is the size of your engaged audience and is based on the followers and friends who actively listen and react to your messages. I also came across this very helpful blog post all about how to increase your score! I especially like #4 “Find something that’s trending and then re-amplify it.” As my Professor said in class, “ride the wave” of the trending topics! It is super exciting to see your Klout score go up and know that you are getting closer to your goal of making your presence more robust online. Although, Klout is for Twitter, when you tweet about your latest blog post, that counts, and drives traffic to your blog or wherever else you’re directing your followers.

How do your friends wish you a happy birthday? Years ago, greeting cards would arrive in the mail. Traditional mail that is. Some friends would call, some would write. Wishes only came from close friends and relatives. Now, more so than ever, many people are wishing me a happy birthday, on Facebook! Family from overseas that used to call, now use skype for well wishes. Although aware of the fact that social media has changed everything, my birthday really put it in perspective, because this year almost everyone that called last year, or the year before, didn’t call, but rather posted on my wall. Is Facebook making birthday cards and calls obsolete?
So what do we think of this? In a way, I like it. It’s quick, easy, and both parties can still interact. There are those people that we would all rather not get caught up on the phone with, and if they write on your wall, you can chose to reply, or not and the best part is you can do it when it’s convenient for you. Do the people who do call make it more special though? Or do we find them old-fashioned? This is reminding me of the whole chivalry is dead topic in a non-dating way…(totally just a thought)

Many of my close friends didn’t even call me, they text. Of course, the most important people still follow the traditional way of calling or visiting, but the way most wish a Happy Birthday is through some sort of social media or text. A few years ago, I even remember getting emails. Those E-cards were kind of popular for a while, but I haven’t gotten one of those recently. I guess it is all personal preference and at the end of the day, what counts is that someone took the time out of their day, to make your special day a little extra special and I love that!

Barbie clearly is a legend. Around since 1959, girls have been dressing her up and combing her hair for generations. In a recent, amazing, PR campaign, toy maker Mattel was “bolstering” awareness of Barbie’s longtime beau, Ken. His 50th Birthday was on March 11, 2011. Although he sort of made a comeback in Toy Story 3 last summer, what really helped put him back on the map, was Hulu’s web series “Genuine Ken.” A reality show looking for the ultimate boyfriend for every occasion, hosted by MTV’s “The Hills” star Whitney Port. Reality show plus cute boys is definitely a recipe for success. This came right before Ken’s 50th birthday, hoping, of course, to drive sales. The web series looks awesome, something I would even watch! I like the idea that the campaign included so much social media. Ken’s Facebook and Twitter, Barbie’s Facebook and Twitter, the Valentine’s Day anticipation where we all wondered if after the break-up in 2004 Barbie would take Ken back? Brilliant. This was all a “great way for grown-up boys and girls to stay connected to the brand,” according to Stephanie Cota, senior vice president for worldwide marketing, Mattel girls brands. I haven’t thought about Barbie or Ken in quite some time, but this campaign really brought the whole brand to my attention and I even thought, wow, I want to go buy my nieces a new Ken doll. I want them to have the newest, most updated, “Genuine Ken.” How cool is that for the ones who came up with this whole idea? They did an awesome job. I can’t get over how cute and refreshing it is to actually see positive, good news and appropriate content online and this campaign accomplished all that. Although I thought that the new Ken would look like the winner of the web series, I found out that the new Ken doll line was released in January, before the contest was shown online. Go Ken!

]]>https://christinahartel.wordpress.com/2011/03/22/kens-makeover-gets-barbie-back/feed/0christinahartelBarbieHow social media helps in times of a crisishttps://christinahartel.wordpress.com/2011/03/17/how-social-media-helps-in-times-of-a-crisis/
https://christinahartel.wordpress.com/2011/03/17/how-social-media-helps-in-times-of-a-crisis/#respondThu, 17 Mar 2011 23:46:37 +0000http://christinahartel.wordpress.com/?p=52Continue reading →]]>Disaster in the Pacific March 11, 2011

With everything going on in Japan, the devastation, and the heartbreaking images, it is good to know that social media is making a difference and helping people get in touch. The number one priority after a natural disaster for families is finding out whether their loved ones are safe. Many took to Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to somehow reach out and let others know they were alive. These platforms were a direct link between those affected in Japan and their worried family members. While individual emails and texting can take too long, one Facebook post or tweet can get a particular message out to a massive amount of people right away. Not only is this helpful because it reaches a large number of people fast, but also because as reported all over the news, phone networks in Japan have been down since the quake.

The potential that social media has is just reiterated when things like this happen. As this horrible tragedy was occurring, witnesses were out with their video cameras and posts appeared on YouTube almost instantaneously. By the afternoon, more than 9,000 earthquake-related videos and 7,000 tsunami-related videos had been uploaded to YouTube, I read in a post. Many celebrities took to Twitter to urge followers to #prayforjapan, which quickly became a trending topic. Twitter and Facebook are also a place where many spread the word, just like during and after the Haiti earthquake, that donations could be made to the REDCROSS, by texting 90999. This is also a great tool, because it requires little effort and many people are probably more likely to donate per text, than through the website.

We are very fortunate to live in a time where information travels so fast. It is important that we use these tools to really help others and ourselves to be better every day!

Being a college student, studying communications has really made me more aware and “conscious” of many things. Product placement, agendas, news, advertising, marketing, media literacy, and the list continues. I recently came across an article and video about Honest Tea’s Social Experiment and it was really refreshing to see that for the most part, Americans are “honest.” So what am I even talking about here? Many times, I think a lot of us, and I speak for myself here as well, lose sight of what we are all about. There are so many distractions and things going on in our daily lives that we sort of lose consciousness of what is going on around us. The television is on, the radio is on, there’s chatter in the background and we are just distracted by noise. Everyday noise that we grow accustomed to. So we see some iced tea in the street with a box to put money into, and we struggle with whether or not to just take the drink, or actually do the right thing and pay for it. Being aware of who we are and what we are all about can only benefit us. It isn’t easy to “wake-up” and take a hard look at what we expose ourselves to on a daily basis, but I guarantee that once we do, many things will be put into perspective and there won’t be any wondering whether to throw money in the box when we come up to a shelf of “Honest Tea’s.”

I love this idea that Honest Tea used, giving them 160 press stories, 280 million total impressions, 2.79 million in earned media, and double-digit growth in each market where this experiment was conducted. What better way to market a product than to conduct an experiment to find out how aware the public really is of their actions. Next time you’re watching TV or on Facebook, ask yourself, why?